Parliament has been Dissolved!: Your Vote and How to Use It

Taken from The Guardian: http://bit.ly/1BVBboc

Today the Dissolution of Parliament takes place, which signals the official start of the General Election.

And that means we have exactly 38 days until Polling Day.

May 7th is practically right around the corner. And come Election day, you will have a choice; to vote for the party that best represents you. 

You will have the choice that people in some parts of the world are still fighting for. 

I frequently hear people saying "oh but all Politicians are liars." Fine, fair enough you don't believe them. I'm not forcing you to. But what some of you may not realise is you have the power to change Politics. 

Voting doesn't just put someone else in power. It hands the power back to you. So it is your job to use this power wisely, and one of the ways you can do that is by doing your research (see below).

May last year, I wrote a post about a very similar subject, but for the Local & European Elections. This fish is much, much bigger. This election will determine how the next 5 years pan out - with you in power, or with yet another Politician clutching at his pride & privileges. 

Your vote changes everything. Dan Jellinek wrote an impressive book (People Power: A User's Guide to Democracy - a recommended read for an intro to Politics in the UK) about this very topic. in which he says

"...not to vote? That is to vastly overreact to whatever anger people might have about Politicians - like burning down a house because you don't like the furniture in it. And not just any old house: the one in which all of us live and, we had better hope, the only one in which we will ever live."

We always here people complaining about things: about how stressful their lives are, about how they're struggling to make ends meet, about how much support their business is lacking. 

Instead of complaining, why don't you do something about it? Complaining is easy, taking action is difficult. If you don't want to take any action, then don't complain.  

Putting aside the fact that our ancestors fought for this very action - from the Suffragettes to soldiers and armies of people. Forgetting that people in countries that we hear about in the news (Egypt, Ukraine, to name a few), are constantly fighting and dying for this very basic freedom, in what seems to be a never-ending conflict. Forget that our battles against terrorist groups all over the world and the complete violation of basic human rights is a plight for countless citizens all because they are denied the basic right to vote.

Forget all that. 

Because Politicians are just liars, aren't they?

Apathetic is the worst thing you can be when it comes to voting. Your vote doesn't just select what government goes into power, but it also shapes the next 5 years of this country. 

So pick the Party that is best suited to you. One you feel will listen to you. A Party where you can get involved and influence the decisions it takes. 

Manifestos haven't been published as yet, but you can find out which party is best suited for you by looking through their websites. 

The team over at isidewith.com have created a handy little quiz to help you with the selection process: https://uk.isidewith.com/political-quiz 

Or, you can wonder over on to https://voteforpolicies.org.uk/ if you'd rather choose based on the policies that matter to you. 

You can always email us at highlyopinionatedblog@gmail.com, or Tweet us @HighlyO for more advice, tips, and answers on any political questions. We're happy to help!

If you don't vote, those who always vote for the same Party will continue to do so, and you'll end up with a Party in power that you absolutely hate, rather than tolerate.

A final note, be sure to Register to Vote by 20th April to make sure you can actually stroll on down to that polling station and pop your ballot paper into the box!

Happy Voting.

Je Suis Charlie: Our right to Freedom of Speech

“A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.”

-    Albert Einstein

As a fellow writer, I simply cannot condone the acts of terror unleashed upon the Charlie Hebdo magazine contributors, and citizens of Paris. Were it not for Freedom of Speech, this blog would not be called Highly Opinionated. In fact, there would be no blog. There would be no blogs, period; no opinions articles, no ‘comments’ boxes, no real journalism. People would no longer have the confidence to speak up about their opinions, or challenge society. Life as we know it would be so drastically different and dismal, and passionate opinions would be lost.

Change comes when people take control and make change, and journalism and media play a pivotal role in that. Just take a look at previous revolutions, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Election campaigns, for example. None of these would have taken place or caused change without media coverage and opinions. Who are we without opinions? We are no longer Human. We would be machines. In fact, the one thing that defines robots and differentiates machine from man is that robots operate without thought or emotion.

“The concept of robots is a very old one yet the actual word robot was invented in the 20th century from the Czechoslovakian word robota or robotnik meaning slave, servant, or forced labor”

-   Mary Bellis, Inventions Expert

As Jon Stewart effectively put it in ‘The Daily Show,’ “comedy should not be an act of courage.” We do not take to the web, the radio, the TV, Theatre, papers, or Film, as an act of courage. We take to these platforms in order to use our voice, to promote new ideas or thoughts, or to challenge existing ones. To place an attack on journalists over a cartoon is to attack an opinion. If everybody took up arms because they disliked the opinion of another, the world would cease to exist. The fact that psychopaths who do so are getting away with it, is morally wrong. People are entitled to their opinions; and whether we like these opinions or not, they ought to be respected, because our opinions are our rights.

And so I urge you, fellow writers, to join together in solidarity, and use this right we have, as our own weapon to speak out against this atrocity, and show them that this is wrong and will not be tolerated. 

"The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men - cries out for universal brotherhood - for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world - millions of despairing men, women, and little children - victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. .....

Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your live - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!"

Charlie Chaplin - 'The Great Dictator' 

Photos taken from BBC News   -   Follow Highly Opinionated on Twitter @HighlyO